what once was mine
by lovelyrutabagas
Summary: Rapunzel has been around for a long time. Not as long as a god, but, still, a few centuries. After Eugene passed away, and she continued to live, permanently youthful, she decided to leave her home. Now, a century after her self-inflicted seclusion and then travelling the world, Rapunzel's settled in the US. More specifically New York.


Rapunzel has been around for a long time. Not as long as a god, but, still, a few centuries. After Eugene passed away, and she continued to live, permanently youthful, she decided to leave her home. Now, a century after her self-inflicted seclusion and then travelling the world, Rapunzel's settled in the US. More specifically New York. When S.H.I.E.L.D. comes knocking at her door, she knows her peaceful life is about to get a whole lot messier.

T~A~T~A

Rapunzel hated her life with Gothel. It was empty and terrifying when she looked back at it and at the time she'd just thought it was boring. Then she met Eugene, her heart flip-flopped and she felt— _that summer breeze the wind it's calling me—_ whole. A new life waiting there just beyond her tower and all she had to do was promise to return a trinket? A very pretty trinket, to be sure, but nothing compared to— _the grass the dirt just like i dreamed they'd be—_ the outside word.

And falling in love was so much fun. An added bonus to becoming her own person, separate from her once-mother, and the benefits to having another person around, who knew things she didn't, and didn't mind her questions. Eugene had loved her, as much as he could, and Rapunzel tried to love him back too. With the way she'd been raised… it wasn't easy, and she'd only grown exceedingly fond of him over the course of their marriage. They'd had two children, both of whom were boys; both happy, bright children who left so quickly from their home. She tried to love them, too.

A colorful bud, full of affection, waiting for the right moment to bloom into a beautiful flower. That's what Gothel had told her, at least. Rapunzel learned long ago not to trust her. She could barely trust herself.

Centuries passed; kingdoms rose and fell; countries waged war; life and death continued on, taking and giving. Yet she couldn't.

Even after Rapunzel had been crowned Queen, and Eugene her King, she did not age. Her frame remained child-like and thin, her eyes did not lighten, her face lacked markings from age that Eugene wore beautifully; she remained, a permanent child running a kingdom, with a husband fast approaching his death.

Rapunzel pondered her past as she perused Walmart's aisles. In her grey sweats and dark hoodie, Rapunzel blended in well-enough with crowd. Her hair was still the jagged pixie cut from Eugene's shaky hand— _i love it i wouldn't change it for the world!—_ and she didn't bother with the styling it anymore. Her lackadaisical approach to her looks was shared by a multitude of others like her. She snorted aloud; as if. There wasn't anyone out there like her. Rapunzel was magical and essentially immortal. Iron man was just some rich guy playing hero and Captain America was a lab rat with enhanced abilities. Same as Banner and the rest of those hero freaks.

If there were people with abilities like her own, Rapunzel would've known about it. What with all the technology and the news, a magical baby wouldn't be kept a secret for very long. When thought of what she'd do if such a baby came along, Rapunzel ultimately decided that she would take it with her, wherever she went.

It hurt to think of stealing a child away from its family as Gothel did to her, but that was different. Gothel took her for selfish gains, to live forever with _—my obedient little flower—_ a magical slave. Rapunzel wouldn't be like that, she wouldn't. She would do it for the safety of the child and for the family involved. Magical beings belonged with magical beings and Rapunzel saw plenty throughout her lifetime to support this claim.

Shoes squeaked behind her and she struggled not to roll her eyes at the sound. Whoever was behind her was an amateur at stalking; she'd been hearing the same damn shoes squeak for over 20 minutes and it was getting to her. Rapunzel turned abruptly towards the entrance and started speed-walking. The shoes startled a moment before following at a good 40 feet behind her. She exited the store, empty-handed and annoyed, and ready to fight.

What she expected was some pervert stumbling out after her; what she got was red-haired woman wearing _rain boots._ Other than that, she was dressed casually and her clothes hid her figure— _look at you pet getting a bit chubby aren't you—_ and weapons most likely. She had the walk of an assassin; quick, quiet steps, bringing her closer to her targets before they could even suspect anything was up.

"Ms. Rider?" The woman spoke in a clear, American accent. Rapunzel could hear the rough underneath, a hidden strength to her tone that came from harsher dialects. "My name is Natasha Romanoff and I work as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. We specialize in your types of cases." Natasha smirked. "You're a difficult person to find."

Rapunzel glared, pure vitriol seeping into her gaze, silently demanding Natasha to tell her how. Who even cared about Banner other than that guy, Ross?

"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been keeping track of you since you showed up in New York last year. We've kept our distance, and kept undesirables off your back, but now we need your help. You'll be safer with us than here on the streets and we'll provide you with whatever you need." How nice. A pretty way of saying she would be kept squirreled away for her own good should she go along with it. She bared her teeth at the agent. Though it wasn't mentioned, Rapunzel knew that should she fail to cooperate S.H.I.E.L.D. would just lock her up and throw away the key. It was always the same thing with humans. No matter the time, they were all still greedy, evil things.

" _ **No."**_

Natasha glanced over her slight form, then quirked a brow. "This isn't up for debate, Ms. Rider; you're coming with me whether you want to or not."

She was prepping herself for a fight, as was Rapunzel. Neither knew what the other was capable of but Rapunzel could wager a guess at the assassin's skills. Her hands clenched into fists.

"Bring it on."

T~A~T~A

 _I think I'm gonna hurl_ were Rapunzel's first thoughts of the day. Her next ones were much less tame.

Rapunzel was in the air and it was unsettling to say the least. She was easy to please; what she needed was plenty of water and sunshine every day and a few meals a week and she'd be golden. Granted, she also needed to stay on the ground to truly be herself or else she'd be impossible to deal with. Now that she was floating around in the sky she could feel what little happiness she had left gradually fade away.

Approaching the walls, Rapunzel let her hands skim the surface of it, searching for any slits or grooves that she could take advantage of. None were to be found. However, before her mood could worsen any further, her cell and another door opened. Freedom was just beyond her reach and she raced desperately for it; she refused to stay locked away.

A man stepped through, garishly decorated in various US-centric colors, a shield strapped to his back and a gun in his hands. Rapunzel wasted no time in throwing herself at him; her still-booted feet struck out at him, catching him by surprise, and sent him reeling back. He was still in the doorway and he was on the defensive. She wasn't great at hand-to-hand and she was used to swinging pans at her enemies.

 _Too bad they took my bag; probably think I'm crazy with all the pans in there._

That didn't matter now. Rapunzel needed to get out and some idiot was in her way and trying to get her back in her cell. The man was saying something and she tuned him out. Darting forward again, she slid under his legs while he expected an attack. Pfft, what a tool.

Rapunzel was on her feet and running before the guards at the end of the hallway knew what was happening. She slipped through their hands and ignored their shouts; she was so close! Every room she passed offered a view of the bright sunny sky outside.

Her skin tingled at the thought of the sun's warm embrace and the cool winter winds. Her feet took her past another set of guards, who were more prepared this time, and had set out traps to trip her up. The ground was covered in water and marbles and she had a split-second to ponder the cartoonish-ness of the situation before she slid onto her backside right into Romanoff and Banner.

Banner fell on his back while Romanoff remained upright and unamused. The guards around them quickly left, leaving behind an archer with… questionable taste in clothing.

Rapunzel opened her mouth, a snarky comment ready to be unleashed when Iron Man (out of costume) and the man from before came running in. Behind them was a tall, tanned, and buff blonde, wearing armor and lugging around a… hammer? It was square and too big to be an actually hammer that people used nowadays but she had the feeling that she'd seen that stupid thing before. Somewhere…

A tall black man entered after everyone else and he looked down his nose at them.

"Agents, enlighten me. Why the hell is the floor wet and covered in marbles?" Judging from his slightly sarcastic tone, he already knew the answer.

Archer guy snickered. "A friendly game of tag taken to the extreme, sir?"

Romanoff filled the man, known as Fury, in on what actually happened.

Iron Man rolled his eyes at the others. He pinned her with a confused gaze and spoke to no one in particular though his voice easily carried:

"Since when does S.H.I.E.L.D. hire kids to do their dirty work?"

His question, only half serious, shut up both archer guy and spangly man. Romanoff looked ready to kill him, which was her default expression apparently, and Banner looked resigned. Like he expected the question or for S.H.I.E.L.D. to actually do it she wasn't sure. The blonde guy looked at around at everyone and came to stand by her sitting form.

"Truly, you humans are so tiny, but to enlist one of your children to fight your battles?! It is most disgraceful!" He didn't speak so much as boom his voice to the rest of the room. Rapunzel decided she liked this guy. Nobody else, just him and his weird hammer that she has totally seen before somewhere.

"Look, she's not here to fight anybody—" Romanoff was cut cutoff by spangly man.

"Hey, the kid fought me and got in a good hit, too; my question is: why was she locked up?"

"Good point," Rapunzel said tonelessly. "I thought I was taken out for 'my own protection.'"

Fury stares her down but she won't cave. "I want to leave. Now."

Fury shakes his head and archer guy and Romanova glance at each other. "Not an option, Ms. Rider."

She tried again, just for effect. Her eyes were wet and glassy and she sniffled a little. "Please, let me go home?" Her voice cracked on the end of _please_ and she could see the man beside her pull himself up to his full height, already glaring.

It would've worked too if archer guy and Romanoff hadn't started chuckling. She huffed and dropped the act.

 _What a bunch of assholes._

T~A~T~A

I start stories I have no direction for because I hate myself

So yeah Tangled/Avengers crossover because it seemed like a good idea at the time.


End file.
